Cut Clutter and Save Time by Organizing Your Navigation

My sons are both beginning drivers (yikes!). We bought them a GPS device as a holiday gift for the car they are using, and despite their protests, I am insisting on teaching them how to read a paper map and how to orient themselves to a city. Many of us have had the experience of being led astray by a GPS system, and I often have "arguments" with mine.

Despite the occasional unreliability, electronic navigation does seem to be here to stay. Here are some tips to help you be more directionally organized, save time, and go green!

Most Popular

Directions for Yourself:
When you're venturing out and have an opportunity to speak with the person or store you're visiting, always ask: "Is your house/restaurant/store's information correct on Google Maps?" Typically people know if there is an error that commonly causes problems for other visitors, and they can direct you correctly. Otherwise, you can safely rely on your internet-based route.

To reduce paper clutter and save trees, consider sending online directions from your computer to your phone as an email message rather than printing them. On Google Maps, you can do this by pressing the "Send" button on the upper right corner of the map.

Given the unreliability of GPS devices, I believe we still need to keep some basic maps in the car. One recent, foldable, detailed street map of your own city and a foldable highway map of your own state (or regional cluster of smaller states) is probably enough.

Directions for Others:
When sending others to your own house, make direction-giving simple by creating a shortcut web link that is easy to share. Here's how:

1. Look up your address on Google Maps or your favorite map application on the web.
2. Verify that the map is accurate for your location. If it isn't accurate, try another map service until you find one that is correct.

3. Grab your link. On Google Maps, you can click the "Link" button to copy the direct web link to your location. Otherwise, select the text of the web address (URL) showing for that page in your browser and copy it to your clipboard. Usually this web address is going to be quite lengthy in the number of characters.
4. Visit www.tinyurl.com and paste your long link into their form. Specify a "custom alias" which is your address itself, so that it's easy for you to remember and give out to your friends. Your web link will be www.tinyurl.com/(youraddress), for example, www.tinyurl.com/456ElmStreet.
5. Now you can easily remember and give out directions to your home! When someone uses that web link, the shortcut will take them to the map page you designated.

Now, if we can just get our guys to pull over and ask for directions if all of this fails! Share your map and direction tips in the comments!